SEO the easy way - 4 Effective Techniques
Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016, 11:43pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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1. Although this may be an obvious SEO truth, it is worth reiterating – write original content and avoid copying other authors’ work. Search engines care about providing users with the most relevant and interesting results from search queries. As Google search that spews up repetitive content is of little value to users, Google will show only the original article, leaving your copied content down below in the results list. Writing original content significantly improves your chances of being ranked at the top on relevant key words. Worst-case scenario, Google will treat your copied content as spam material, making it virtually impossible for the ... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Branding and mistakes many small businesses are making
Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015, 09:42am
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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Many small businesses have never had time to think about branding and create a cohesive brand strategy. Many treat it as a last priority and if not completely neglect branding aspect delay it greatly.Combined with lack of knowledge and eventually poor implementation that leads to significant lost opportunities and harm to the business image and eventually bottom line.Can you imagine Apple being that successful without its strong and immediately recognizable brand elements such as logo, product design, advertisement, store look?Now think about what you might be missing by not paying attention to your business branding. Building a band takes time. The earlier you start the better. Re... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Pricing Strategies for Small Businesses
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015, 10:16pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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It’s not a secret that pricing is one of the key aspects to running a successful business. Carefully selected pricing strategy not only generates sales volumes, but also delivers key product messages to consumers. For example, higher prices can signal higher quality for a specific set of products, while rock bottom price tags can cause suspicion and quality mistrust. Below are a few of the many well-known, time-tested pricing techniques that can help you find the right pricing strategy for your business: Price similar products differentlyAccording to research, offering too many options as very similar prices creates a so called ‘analysis paralysis’ and often leads to cu... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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SWOT Competitors before a Major Business Negotiation
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015, 08:19pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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with permission of Patrick Tinney, Managing Partner, centroidmarketing.com, the Author of the new business book “Unlocking Yes: Sales Negotiation Lessons & Strategy”“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” -Arthur AshePreparation for major a business negotiation involving million dollar contracts takes a wider swath. Not only do you need to have a great proposal in hand with creative BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) options, but you need to be prepared for a feisty battle with competitors who are trying to expand their position with your customer.A thorough SW... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Sources of financing for small businesses
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015, 09:09am
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Finance & Accounting
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Many small business owners believe that they need an investor to grow the business. That is true, it might be easier with money not being an issue. However, it is important to understand the constraints which come with having an investor.Different type of business financing will have their own pluses and minuses. A business owner should consider all possible options and define what suits him better. The first question that should be asked is whether the investor is truly required.With rare exceptions investors have different objectives from those of the business owner. That will constrain the freedom and to some degree might enslave a business owner. After all, many entrepreneurs a... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Why Leading Questions Are Important In Sales Negotiations!
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015, 08:59pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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with permission of Patrick Tinney, Managing Partner, centroidmarketing.com, the Author of the new business book “Unlocking Yes: Sales Negotiation Lessons & Strategy” “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, require creative imagination and marks real advance in science.”- Albert EinsteinA leading question is a question so worded as to suggest the proper or desired answer. If you’ve watched a crime or courtroom movie scene you would have heard a million leading questions and some of these questions are so rhetorical that we almost groan when we hear them. A leading questions exam... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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About Strategic Planning and Budgeting
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015, 11:22am
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Strategy
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Management is greatly about foreseeing and shaping the future. It is about anticipating the future. That is why budgeting and overall business planning are important for the business success.They allow to project the business into the future. Strategic planning is about setting the objectives and defining the means to achieve these objectives. Usually it is a quite repetitive process. As in the course of a realistic and conservative planning process it might be realized that the objectives are to stretching and unachievable within the specified timeframe and with the available resources.The core of the strategic planning process is to create a plan that allows to achieve ... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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The 5 Keys of Marketing Strategy
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015, 07:59pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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What’s the difference between the confident entrepreneurs who lead growing businesses and owners who can’t get out of survival mode? It all comes down to this: All successful businesses have a clear marketing strategy that makes everything they do more effective.Unfortunately, many busy small business owners get so caught up in tactical daily marketing execution like building a website, sending email, tweeting, advertising, optimizing a landing page, blogging and so on, that they are not taking the time to work on the decisions that’ll improve the performance of their tactics.Strategy is simply the decisions you need to make so your tactics work better... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Avoid These 7 Partnership Killers
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015, 07:56pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Start Up
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From powerhouse financiers like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to retailers like Baskin-Robbins to IT pioneers like Hewlett-Packard, business partnerships have been an important part of entrepreneurship and startup success. The reasons are simple: complementary skill sets, shared equipment or expenses, and the idea that one person with "hard" money capital can create synergy with the intellectual capital of another person so both can profit from their venture.In theory, a partnership is a great way to start in business. In my experience, however, it's not always the best way for the typical entrepreneur to organize a business.The tough thing about most partnerships is that t... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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10 reasons why businesses fail
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015, 07:53pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Start Up
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Only half of small and medium-sized businesses make it to their fifth birthday, while 15% don’t last a year. And many of them succumb to the same mistakes. Here are 10 key reasons why businesses fail. Try to avoid them at all costs.Read full article http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/10-reasons-why-businesses-f ail/ Discuss in Forum » |
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Why does your business need a loyalty program? Part I
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015, 11:06pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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Why does your business need a loyalty program?Part I There is no question that creating a loyal customer base is crucial to establishing a successful business and ensuring long-term profitability. According to recent research, a business will lose 10-30 percent of its customers in 1 year and as much as 50 percent in 5 years if it doesn’t actively work to retain customers. Losing customers can be expensive, as it costs 6 – 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one from going elsewhere.[1] Furthermore, by failing to keep customers, securing a sale becomes more challenging as a business has a 60 – 70 percent chance of selling to an... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Different Ways to Structure a Successful Loyalty Program
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015, 11:02pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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Below are the most common loyalty program models:Get personal - Most importantly for small business is to show your personal side, offer meaningful rewards by capitalizing on more intimate interaction with your customers. If you have regular customers that always purchase a specific item/service, offer that favourite item as a free reward as a ‘thank you’ for their loyalty. You can also collect customer’s birthdate dates and offer a small free gift when the special day arrives. It shows to your customers that their business is truly appreciated and that you are about their experience and building a relationship. Make your customers feel important and valued b... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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Marketing mix (four Ps strategy)
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015, 11:00pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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Since it was first proposed by Jerome McCarthy in 60s famous four Ps have been one of the key core concepts of the marketing often used to define marketing mix.The marketing mix defines characteristics related to positioning of a product in the market. The most important characterises of the marketing mix are product, price, promotion and place (four Ps). For the product success in the market place it is important to ensure meaningful and cohesive strategy behind defining marketing mix.Product: to achieve the success a product or service should be designed with a customer in mind. It is important to define the target market (consumer), understand their needs and desires and en... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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How easy it is to start the business
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015, 10:53pm
By KaterinaD
In: Small Business - Marketing & Sales
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It is hard but probably easier than many of us would think. The main prerequisite is a burning desire that will help you to overcome many hurdles on the road to the successful business. Think about it as about your internal energy that is convertible into practical actions.Do you need a unique business idea? Hmm… it is nice to have one. However, it is hard to come up with a truly unique idea. The good news is that it is not what is absolutely required for a successful business. All you need is to do something useful for other people better the competitors do.A unique idea might give you an edge but quite often it might not be a sustainable advantage.Sustainable competitive advant... Read More Discuss in Forum » |
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